


Did They Know You Were Just Kids?

by violetwolfraven



Category: The Umbrella Academy
Genre: Archery, Astronomy Club, Band, Bullying, Drugs, Emotional Abuse, F/F, F/M, Friends help, High School AU, High School Drama, M/M, Sports, choir, drama club, multiple OCs - Freeform, theater crew
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2020-12-27 08:35:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21115844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violetwolfraven/pseuds/violetwolfraven
Summary: Crime is down, and all of the 7 have been begging for years, so Reginald finally cracks and lets the Umbrella Academy go to normal High School.In theory, this is a good thing. But what happens when the 7 are unprepared to deal with hormones, drama, and social expectations of ordinary high school?





	1. First Day

**Author's Note:**

> This is based off the headcanons by the amazing Tumblr-user @oreo-bixch!  
The only change I made from those headcanons is that they’re all 15 and are freshmen. Also, the first chapter will be really long to include all of the 7’s perspectives, but later chapters will probably only feature a few of them at a time.

Luther’s knee was bouncing with excitement as he glanced around, taking in the strange new environment that was High School.

This would take him one step closer to his dream. Luther wanted to be an astronaut more than anything, and though Dad didn’t seem to pay his dream all that much mind, he did admit that he himself was under qualified to teach Luther about space. He could program Mom to do it, but that wasn’t the same thing as an actual education.

Crime was finally down enough that all 7 of the siblings were finally allowed to go to normal high school. It was amazing. Luther had never seen so many people his age in the same place before.

Time to make friends.

Luther turned to the guy sitting next to him, an African-American guy his age who by no means could be as strong as him, but looked like he would be strong by normal standards.

”Hi,” he said warmly, “I’m Luther Hargreeves.”

”Riley Jones,” the kid said, looking mildly confused.

”I’m new,” Luther said, “Um...”

He had to stop himself from just outright saying ‘do you want to be my friend.’ That was never how people did it in the movies Mom and Pogo sometimes snuck them.

“Do you think you could tell me how this whole high school thing works?”

Riley still looked confused. Nice going, Luther.

”Um,” Riley cleared his throat, “Homeschooled?”

”Something like that,” Luther admitted, “That obvious?”

”Well, I don’t know that much about high school, myself,” Riley said, “I just got here, same was you.”

”Well, what was middle school like?”

Riley seemed to be thinking, “Um... well, school’s not exactly fun, but as long as you stay out of the way of the big, strong butt-headed kids, you should be fine.”

”I’m pretty sure I’ll be fine,” Luther said nonchalantly, “Why would you need to worry about them? You look pretty strong.”

The other boy just sniggered, “Not like they are. And I’m more fast that strong, anyway. You know, in a fight. Comes with the territory of my thing.”

”You mean your sport?” 

Riley seemed strangely guarded as he answered, “Sort of. I’m a cheerleader.”

“Cool. Can you do a flip?”

Now, Riley seemed strangely relieved, and Luther was the one who was confused.

”Yeah I can do a flip. Usually, I’m on the ground, though, throwing the girls.”

”My brother can do a flip,” Luther said thoughtfully, “Well, one of them.”

He gestured to his side, where all 6 of his siblings were sitting in number order.

Oh, shit.

Klaus was wearing a tank top, even though the first cold breezes of fall were starting to blow through. Which meant that his tattoo was in clear view for everyone to see. From there, it would be an easy connection to see that no, he wasn’t just a fanboy, because the other kids around him had very specific looks.

That, and Luther probably shouldn’t have mentioned that Diego was his brother, considering how none of his siblings looked like him except _maybe_ Five a little.

Luther turned back to Riley, trying not to feel awkward. He didn’t want his new almost-friend to treat him differently because he had powers.

He had to say something to break the awkward quiet, with the background noise of a couple hundred kids who knew each other catching up.

”He’s adopted,” he ended up saying, “We’re all adopted.”

Great job, Luther. That’s not a weird thing to say at all.

”Cool,” Riley said awkwardly, “Um, are you going to try out for football? Seems like your talents might be good for that.”

Luther exhaled, realizing Riley had been surprised, but not scared or anything.

”I don’t know,” Luther admitted, “I don’t really know how to play.”

Riley shrugged, “That’s cool. I know how the games work, but I can’t play. I could teach you the strategy stuff if you want.”

Luther nodded, “I’d like that.” 

He didn’t know how this was supposed to work, of course, but that felt an awful lot like making a friend.

...

The first day of school assembly had been exceedingly boring, and Diego was thrilled to be out of it.

He was grateful for the fact that he was even in school, of course. After 15 years, crime was finally down. They’d all been more excited than ever before. This was a chance to make friends. This was a chance to be normal kids. This was a chance to see if they even _could_ be normal kids. 

Not that being stuck in a self-defense PE class with absolutely no one he knew was super fun.

A girl walked up to him as he entered the mat room. 

“New kid, right?”

Diego nodded, “Something like that.”

The girl held out her hand, “Kat Barnes.”

”Diego,” Diego said. He was unwilling to claim his ‘father’s’ last name, even if it was his on paper.

Too late, Diego realized he’d shaken her hand with his left, giving her the opportunity to rotate their hands to see his tattoo.

A flicker of a smile crossed the blonde’s face.

”I knew it,” she said, “Nobody really believed the rumors, but... I knew it was true.”

”Let go,” Diego said carefully.

Kat’s hand moved so that she was actually _touching_ he tattoo, reminding him unpleasantly of the feeling of needles digging into his flesh. 

He had to remind himself that it was only her painted-red nails, which became increasingly harder as she dug her nails in harder.

Still, he knew that he couldn’t hurt her back. One bad move and he could get expelled. Though no one said it, everyone knew he was one of those freak kids. They’d get rid of him because of his powers in a heartbeat and Diego could. not. Just go back to the Umbrella Academy.

”Let go,” Diego repeated, finding it harder to keep his voice calm.

”Why?” Kat asked sweetly, “Listen. No matter if you’re an Umbrella Academy kid or not, I’m the alpha of this self-defense program. Nothing and no one is going to change that.”

”You. Wish.” Another female voice said.

Diego turned to see a dark-haired girl, her arms crossed and a glare on her face.

”Let him go, Kat,” the girl said firmly.

”Why?” Kat asked, “Last I checked, I’m still the top bitch in this class.”

“Yeah, only cause _this_ bitch doesn’t care about challenging you,” the girl shot back, “Except when you pick on the new kid as if he poses some kind of threat to you.”

Kat sneered, “I can beat you, Dory.”

The other girl, Dory, apparently, took a couple steps closer, “Do you really want to test that theory?”

Surprisingly, Kat actually backed down, letting go of Diego’s arm and shoving it back towards him.

”You’re not worth it,” she hissed, stalking over to the other side of the room.

”Are you okay?” Dory asked, walking up to him.  
Strangely, now that Kat had backed down, the girl that had stood up for him seemed less confident than before. She barely looked him in the eye, but she didn’t even glance at his tattoo. 

“I’m fine,” Diego said, “Dory, was it?”

She cringed, “Eudora. Dora, if you want.” For the first time, her eyes flicked down to his wrist, “You’re bleeding. Damn, I didn’t think Kat’s nails were that sharp.”

”It’s fine,” Diego said, “Trust me, it’s not the worst I’ve gone through. Uh... um, thank you, for standing up for me, Eudora.”

Eudora smiled slightly, “Any time. Want to spar?”

”Sure.”

Truth be told, Diego was still had no idea what was going on. But he knew Eudora seemed nice, and he’d sure rather spar with her than anyone else.

”Just promise me one thing,” Eudora said as she stepped into a fighting stance.

”Sure,” Diego agreed, “What?”

”Don’t go easy on me,” she said with a smirk, “I’m going to be a cop someday. I already know how to fight pretty good.”

Diego was still a little confused, but he nodded, “Okay.”

...

Allison wondered how she was supposed to act around other girls, which was what the majority of her Fashion Design class was.

It was strange, not having any of her brothers here with her. Sure, Klaus was taking FD, but not until next semester. 

After 15 years of having at least one boy looking out for her, watching her back, being without them was... strange. She also didn’t like how in this period, none of the siblings had a class together. That meant that she wasn’t the only one who was alone. What if something happened? What if some piece of shit figured out they were there? What if something happened to one of those idiots and one of her brothers got hurt while she wasn’t there to help them?

”Allison Hargreeves?” the teacher called.

”Here!” Allison exclaimed, her voice cracking.

Great start, Allison. God.

Their first assignment was to play around with some spare fabrics and create an item of clothing of some kind, just so the teacher could get a feel for their personal styles. 

Allison picked out an old jean-jacket from the pile, various holes in it from where other kids had taken pieces of it. It looked like it might have once been well-loved by some girl, judging by the pink and white paint stains on the forearms.

Imperfect and broken, but still pretty. Allison liked it.

The girl across from her was playing around with some red and black stripes, already taking out a needle and some thread. The tools reminded Allison of her mom.

But this girl was anything but what Mom was.

Black hair cropped unevenly, a leather jacket, fishnets under a crimson top with a leather skirt... Allison was kind of surprised that she was the kind of girl to even like this kind of thing.

The girl noticed Allison looking and held out her hand to shake.

”Veronica Gallinger.”

”Allison Hargreeves.”

”So,” Veronica said, nodding at the jean jacket, “What are you going to do with that? It’s busted.”

”Says the girl messing around with just plain fabric,” said the Asian boy sitting next to her before shaking Allison’s hand, “Martin Soeng, by the way.”

”Hi.”

Veronica rolled her eyes, “Marty, I’ve been sewing since I was six. I think I know more about fashion than you.”

”Yeah? Well, I’m bisexual, which means I’m half gay, and stereotype dictates that gays know fashion.”

”Sorry,” Allison said slowly, “You lost me. Bisexual? Gay?”

Marty and Veronica’s teasing smiles faded as they realized she wasn’t kidding.

”Were you homeschooled in hell, or what?” Marty asked finally, laughing in a nervous kind of way.

Allison chose not to respond to that one.

Veronica cleared her throat, “Okay, so, there are other sexualities than straight, or heterosexual; being attracted to people of the opposite gender. There’s homosexual, or gay, which is being attracted to the same gender as yourself—that’s me. There’s also bisexual, like Marty, which is being attracted to both genders, pansexual, which is being attracted to any gender, trans people included, and asexual, which is not being sexually attracted to anyone.”

Okay, so that wasn’t that hard. Allison had seen Klaus smiling shyly at a girl on a mission like most of her other brothers, but she had also seen him get red in the face when he had to carry some boy about their age over the rooftops to save him from a mugging, though. Now that they were a bit older, he flirted with basically everyone in their age range.

And Diego had once given a small wave to a boy who was attractive by Allison’s standards, which was followed by him not being able to talk clearly for at least a few minutes after that particular mission.

And Five never flirted with anyone. Not even the girls that Allison’s other brothers tripped over themselves to ask if she was okay.

But one thing was still bothering her...

“Trans?” Allison asked.

”Where did you grow up?” Marty asked, “An Alabama boarding school?”

Again, Allison didn’t respond. But she saw Veronica’s mental gears turning, then realization dawning in her eyes.

”So,” she said, “The rumors are true.”

”That’s one way of putting it,” Allison agreed.

”Guess you’re too busy saving the world to figure out sexualities and things.”

Marty still looked confused, “Saving the world? What—holy shit. She’s—“

”We won’t tell anyone if you don’t want us to,” Veronica assured her, cutting Marty off.

”Thank you,” Allison said gratefully, “I kind of just want to figure out normal high school.”

Marty nodded in understanding, “Well, not understanding sexualities and gender identities isn’t going to help you look normal. And I myself happen to be not only bisexual, but trans. Who better than me to explain the whole spectrum to you?”

Allison nodded, mildly confused, but willing to learn.

...

If there was one thing Klaus liked about High School, it was that there were no ghosts. Nobody had died here, and a lot of the ghosts who had followed him as far as the school doors stayed outside. 

Well, if ghosts were reluctant to go into a high school, maybe that wasn’t a particularly good sign. Klaus didn’t really care. He was just happy that even with him not being able to sneak drugs along with him for the school day because Dad was going to make Pogo check his backpack every night, he’d be able to avoid seeing unwanted spectral ‘friends.’

Maybe it was just the pot still in his system, but Klaus didn’t realize that the teacher of his second period class was talking to him until the guy next to him elbowed him, just in time for him to hear the question.

”Do you know who Rosalind Franklin was?”

”Um,” Klaus cleared his throat, “She was a scientist, right? She worked on radioactive stuff?”

”You’re probably thinking of Marie Curie,” Ms. Quinn said gently, “But yes, Rosalind Franklin was a scientist. Can anyone tell me what she _did_ study?”

“Thanks,” Klaus said quietly to the guy next to him, “I’m Klaus, by the way.”

”Dave,” the guy whispered back, “It’s impressive that you even knew who Rosalind Franklin was a little bit. I had no idea.”

Klaus looked at the guy for the first time, taking his eyes off the lecture board.

Holy shit.

Dave had blond hair, a strong build, and blue eyes a guy could get lost in.

Klaus was pretty sure he was in love.

Unfortunately, Dave noticed him staring.

“Um,” Dave mumbled, “Lecture is continuing without you, buddy.”

Klaus turned back to the teacher, but still wasn’t able to focus. And this time, it had nothing to do with drugs.

He was kind of tempted to ask Dave out right there, but this wasn’t how this was supposed to work. Guys and girls got together. There was just something wrong with Klaus, the way he wanted to be with boys.

At least, that was how Dad made it seem. That was how things were supposed to be, right?

But with the way just Dave looking at him made Klaus’s heart skip a beat, how could his feelings be wrong?

Klaus heard someone else sigh wistfully. 

_Don’t be a girlfriend, don’t be a girlfriend, don’t be a girlfriend..._

Klaus turned to look at Dave again and was shocked to see that it was much worse. 

A girl, probably a few years older than them, was crouching next to Dave’s desk, staring sadly at Dave.

Her blonde hair was in a neat bun, brown eyes completely focused on Klaus’s new friend. Her military uniform was stained by uneven splatters of blood.

There was so much of the crimson liquid coating the camouflage fabric that nobody could survive losing that much.

Klaus tried to act like he hadn’t been looking at her, even as he felt her eyes focused on the boy who’d been staring at her. He could practically hear her thoughts as she realized that Klaus had _seen_ her.

_Shit. Shit, shit, shit._

But to Klaus’s surprise, the girl didn’t even question him. 

She didn’t ask for his help, didn’t reach out to try to touch him, didn’t speak at all.

She didn’t even try to get his attention again.

The dead soldier girl just stood up silently and walked away, looking back only once, at Dave, as she walked through the door and out of sight.

...why was Dave being haunted?

...

Five was bored. Everyone in high school was _so_ stupid. Before this, Five would have doubted that anyone could be dumb enough to not know the pyagratheom theorem off the top of their head.

He would have been wrong. Even Klaus was smarter than all the kids in his math class. 

As one of his classmates made an extremely obvious mistake on the verbal pre-quiz _again_, a girl raised her hand to correct him before Five got the chance to.

Five was tired beyond belief of idiots, so he interrupted before the girl could speak.

”Please, let me,” Five said, “I know this.”

”So do I, asshat.”

Five turned around to look at the girl, a bit shocked that she would say that in front of a teacher.

The girl was a redhead, her green eyes meeting Five’s and holding a challenge.

”No swearing,” the teacher said, but neither of them were paying attention.

”Newsflash,” the redhead said, “You’re not the only one who knows shit, here.”

”Well, that’s news to me,” Five said calmly, “Considering I’ve watched every one of the idiots in here make mistakes my jackass stoner of a brother wouldn’t make on a bad day.”

”Well, maybe you missed the memo, but different people have different strengths,” the girl snapped, “Just cause these fine assholes don’t know math doesn’t mean they’re beneath you.”

”I never said—“

”You didn’t have to.”

Five was annoyed, yes, but more than that, he was confused. Nobody had ever challenged him like this before. Diego and Luther tried, sure, but they almost never made points that actually kind of made sense.

Not that Five was about to give this girl the satisfaction of winning the argument.

”So,” He said, “Is not being able to do math going to help anyone get into college?”

”Not in some cases,” the girl admitted, “But Jack, one of the people you called stupid, is the best football player in our grade. Ellie over there can draw better than anyone, and Cody, that guy sitting next to you, can sing a hell of a lot better than you can.”

”You don’t know that.”

”Want to prove it?”

This girl was good. If Five just started singing, he’d look really stupid.

As infuriated as he was, Five had to admit there was something exciting about meeting someone who could match wits with him as an equal.

He grudgingly respected this girl, but he still had to respond to her challenge, not that he was going to just start singing.

“Fuck you,” was the only response that came out.

”Real mature,” the girl said with a grin.

“Both of you!” The teacher exclaimed, “Principal’s office! Now!”

Five and the redhead girl left the room, both trying to hide their smiles.

”Five Hargreeves,” Five said, shaking the girl’s hand as they headed towards the office.

”Delores Nathan.”

They just stood there for a second, smirking at each other with a challenge.

”So, I guess we’re both in trouble,” Delores said finally.

”Might as well be on friendly terms if we’re both getting detention,” Five agreed.

”I’m still cussing at you if you keep acting like a pretentious asshole.”

”Noted.”

Maybe they weren’t really friends, but having a rival seemed fun.

...

”Ben Hargreeves?” 

“Here!” Ben called, raising his hand to let the teacher know where he was. 

“Klaus Hargreeves?”

”Present!”

Ben cringed. While Klaus seemed to have no problem with people knowing they were from the Umbrella Academy, pretty much every other sibling did.

The fact that they had the same last name, marking them as brothers while Ben was Asian and Klaus was white made who they were just a little bit obvious, considering most of the school had heard the rumors that the Umbrella Academy kids were now going to their school.

”Did you have to wear a tank top?” Ben asked.

He had no idea why Mom had let him buy that in the first place when she’d taken the 7 shopping before school started. They’d all known Dad would hate it, but truth be told, a rainbow tie die tank top wasn’t really something that any of them liked except Klaus. The only reason that Dad let him keep it was because the store didn’t accept returns and it was supposed to be strictly ‘summer pajamas only.’

Klaus shrugged, “Well, Dad told me not to, so of course I had to.”

”Fair,” Ben admitted, “How’d you get out of the house?”

”Had a little help from Five. He stashed it in Luther’s backpack and grabbed it for me so I could change in the bathroom before school.”

“Ah.”

Ben had to admit, he kind of hated English class. It seemed pointless. Reading was all well and good, and he enjoyed it. But reading because someone told you to and then having to do reports on it? Not so much. 

There were five kids to a table group, and Klaus had met one of the girls, Sara Weaver, from one of his other classes, which was why she had sat with them, but Ben didn’t know any of the kids besides his brother.

Sara Weaver, Laura Stefanik and Lucas Pokorny. To be honest, Ben had no idea what to make of his new table mates, even as Klaus chatted easily with Sara, who seemed friendly enough. 

But, none of them were freaking out about Ben and Klaus being who they were, so Ben had to appreciate that. He guessed it could be worse. They could be like that creepy blonde who stared at him all of third period.

”So, what do you like to do?” Ben asked, fully expecting them both to say some kind of sport, considering how athletic they both looked.

”Theater Club,” They both said immediately, laughing when they said it simultaneously.

Ben hadn’t expected that. If Laura and Lucas were both theater kids, why were they both so muscular?

”My thing is the actual acting,” Laura explained, “Cast. We usually do musicals, so it’s an excuse to break into song out of nowhere.”

”Crew may not be that exciting,” Lucas admitted, “But according to my big brother, they do sing along to musical soundtracks as we build sets.”

”What kinds of things do you build?” Ben asked.

Lucas shrugged, “Um... all kinds of things. They did the Hunchback of Notre Dam, so the crew had to build some giant bells. They did Into the Woods, so they needed to make_ a ton_ of fake trees. It really just depends on the show.”

Ben had never heard of either show. But the idea of building things instead of breaking them down sounded amazing. It sounded like something Ben had never gotten a chance to do before.

”When’s the next show?” He asked.

”The interest meeting is next Tuesday after school,” Laura said, “We’re doing Be More Chill.”

”What’s that?” Ben asked eagerly.

”It’s only one of the best Broadway Musicals _ever_!” Laura exclaimed.

“In her opinion,” Lucas clarified.

”It’s amazing,” Laura gushed, “It’s about this guy named Jeremy, and he’s kind of a loser...”

Ben found himself fascinated as he listened to Laura ramble. He knew Dad probably wouldn’t allow it, but he really did want to join Theater Club.

”When did you say that interest meeting was again?” Ben asked when Laura finished explaining Be More Chill.

”Tuesday,” she explained, “2:30-3:30.”

”Got it.”

Maybe Ben could use some help from one of his sisters.

...

Vanya didn’t have any classes with her siblings, besides the fact that they all had the same lunch. 

The others each had at least one class with one of the kids they actually knew. That just went to show either how bad Vanya’s luck was, or how much their Dad didn’t care enough to make sure she was having a good time.

Even if they almost never included her, Vanya did miss her siblings. Beyond a high five from Klaus in the hallway, she hadn’t seen any of them since lunch. 

There was something jarring about being suddenly separated from people you’d been surrounded with for your whole life, even if it was just being sleeping near them, and never being included in midnight conversations. Being completely alone, not even being able to see their faces and hear their voices, was different. Vanya didn’t like it.

”Vanya Hargreeves?” The last period teacher asked.

”Here.”

Vanya spotted a few kids perking up at the mention of her last name. Probably people that had had classes with her brothers and sister. But they’d lose interest in her eventually. Just like everyone else did.

But as soon as they were told to separate into partners to work on something together, a dark-haired, pale-skinned girl slid into the desk next to Vanya before anyone else could.

”I’m Veronica Gallinger,” the girl said, “You’re Allison’s sister, right? I have fashion design with her.”

”Um, yeah,” Vanya said awkwardly, “I don’t have powers. And I’m not really close with Allison or any of my brothers, so...”

To Vanya’s surprise, Veronica just shrugged, “Whatever. If you’re anything like your sister, I’m sure you’re cool.”

Nobody had reacted to hearing Vanya wasn’t close with her siblings like that before. Usually, people just wanted to use her to get close to the others. They didn’t actually care about her.

But Veronica seemed like she already knew Allison, and wanted to get to know Vanya, too. That was... new, to say the least.

“Um,” Vanya said, “I’m not really anything like Allison.”

”That’s okay,” Veronica said, unphased, “What do you like to do?”

”I play the violin,” Vanya offered, slowly starting to feel less awkward, “I’m not that good, but...”

”Well, you’re only 15, right?” Veronica pointed out, “When did you start?”

”When I was 13.”

“So you haven’t had that much time to learn complicated songs. I’m sure you’ll get better when you get older.”

”Um, thanks?”

”Have you ever heard of Lindsey Stirling?”

”No.”

”Oh, she’s amazing. She’s a violinist who plays these super complicated kind of modernized songs. You should look her up. She’s got some pretty cool videos on YouTube. Maybe someday you’ll be able to try out some of her songs.”

To be honest, Vanya had no idea what to do. Veronica was being so _nice_ to her, and even expressing interest in her violin hobby. She hadn’t mentioned any of Vanya’s siblings once beyond saying she knew Allison. This was... not normal. Not normal for Vanya, at least.

”Did you join the orchestra?” Veronica asked.

”No,” Vanya admitted, “I don’t think my dad would let me perform.”

”Why not?”

Vanya shrugged, “If I mess up, I make my family look bad.”

”So don’t mess up,” Veronica said simply, “Practice a shit ton and make your dad proud.”

Vanya didn’t know if making her father proud was physically possible for her. Not as the useless Number 7. 

But she knew that Veronica Gallinger made her want to try.


	2. How to get in Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wherein 2 of the Hargreeves kids get detention and 1 more starts to get in trouble, though they don’t know it yet.

To say that Klaus was confused would be an understatement.

The first few periods were a bit of a blur after he’d figured out that if he did his drugs _before _he left for school instead of going without altogether, he could get a peaceful bus ride, but the thing about that was that teachers were not as dumb as they looked and could absolutely tell that you were high. Klaus had gotten detention.

The confusing thing was that of the dozen or so kids in detention, only about half of them looked like the type that would be likely to end up there. The *rough* type.

The others included some nerdy-looking kid who kept swearing up and down that he “didn’t mean to cause an explosion in that bathroom,” a preppy-looking girl with a hydroflask, and a redheaded girl who seemed to be using her pencil to tap out Morse code on the desk so she could talk shit about the teacher with Five, who also happened to be there.

Oh, yeah, and the fact that Dave was there was also _totally_ expected.

Klaus hurried over to where his friend-ish was sitting, ignoring the surprised look Five gave him as he came in.

”What are you doing here?” 

Dave shrugged, “You don’t know me that well, Klaus. Sometimes teachers say hi to me in the halls and I don’t say hi back. Sometimes I bring snacks into class and don’t share with everyone. Sometimes I wear tank tops in PE.”

”You can get in trouble for that stuff?” Klaus asked, starting to understand why so many ghosts weren’t willing to follow him into school.

”No,” Dave assured him, “No, sorry. You look so worried. The only one of those that’s even against the rules is wearing tank tops in PE, and even then they wouldn’t give you detention for it.”

”Oh, good,” Klaus said, “Um, so what _did_ you do to get detention?”

Dave shrugged, “I heard you got detention. Figured you’d never survive without help, being a new kid and all. So I broke a water fountain.”

Klaus stifled a burst of laughter, “You broke a water fountain?”

”I kicked it.”

”How do you break a water fountain with a kick?!”

”I kicked it _really_ hard.”

Klaus laughed out loud, ignoring how Five rolled his eyes. It wasn’t like being a disappointment to his siblings was a new thing.

Dave had broken a water fountain for him.

In a weird way, that was almost romantic. 

_Shit_.

Dave’s smirk faded into a kind of worried expression.

”People said you got detention for... for...”

”Doing drugs?” Klaus suggested.

Dave nodded, “Um, yeah. Is that true?”

Klaus didn’t know why he felt so uncomfortable as he responded, “Yeah.”

Dave only looked more worried, ”You know that’s bad for you, right?”

”Yeah?” Klaus was failing to see the point here.

”If you know it’s bad, why do you do it?”

Klaus kind of didn’t want to respond to that. Even if Dave knew who he was, which he hadn’t given a definitive answer as to if he did so far, the public didn’t know what it was like to be him. Nobody did. Not even his siblings. Ben tried to understand a little bit. Diego did, too, though less. But neither of them ever thought or bothered to ask how Klaus _felt_.

Dave wasn’t quite asking that, either, but he was closer than any of Klaus’s family had gotten in a long time. 

Dave didn’t even know him. He’d met him yesterday. Why was he even trying?

“Why do you care?” Klaus asked carefully.

Dave looked away. Klaus couldn’t tell if he was imagining the way the blond turned a little red.

”Because you’re my friend. Or I’d like you to be—I’d like to be friends.”

Klaus nodded, “I’d like that, too.”

Dave looked back at him and Klaus remembered that he still hadn’t answered his question.

”I do the drugs because...” he faltered, “It’s complicated.”

A haze of green faded in and out of view to Dave’s right. Klaus realized it had been a few hours since he had taken anything.

Dave, obviously, was completely unaware of his spectral stalker. He just smiled.

”I can live with that explanation for now.”

...

Two Hargreeves brothers in detention.

Five guessed both his and Klaus’s day was going to get worse once they got home.

_“This guy isn’t even paying attention to any of us,” _Delores tapped out, _“They call him a teacher?”_

Five smirked before tapping back,_ “I agree. That guy over there is clearly charging a vape pen.”_

_”The teacher is supposed to keep us safe if there’s a shooting or something, right?”_

_”Oh, great. I feel so safe.”_

_“Yeah, if there was an actual shooting, you’d do a better job.”_

This was what Five liked about Delores. She didn’t gawk at him or act like he was some kind of hero like most of the students, but she didn’t ignore the fact that he was different from her, either.

She treated him like she treated anyone else, which meant she acknowledged that he had powers; she just didn’t care.

“I don’t mean to sound like a weirdo or anything,” Delores said out loud, “But you know how to fight—like hand-to-hand—right?”

”Yeah,” Five responded, “Otherwise, I’m just appearing and disappearing. Wouldn’t be much use in a fight if I was just the Cheshire Cat, would I?”

”Heard one of your brothers was in the self defense class,” she said, ignoring his sarcasm, “So why aren’t you? Why would you choose to be in that boring, standard-ass PE class most of the freshmen are in”

Five just shrugged, “Why would I want to waste my time beating up on kids who will never be on my level?”

”Why’d your brother do it, then?”

Five shrugged again, “Well, Diego is an idiot.”

Delores stifled her laugh, trying to keep quiet so the useless, ‘on his phone’ teacher wouldn’t hear her.

”So, this is what having siblings is like?”

”Yes. It sucks. Don’t ever get any.”

Delores shrugged, “Well, easy for you to say. It’s got to be better than just wandering around an empty house all summer long, wishing you had friends.”

”Well, maybe if you didn’t lead by insulting people, you’d have more friends,” Five suggested.

”Maybe if you didn’t act like you were smarter than everyone else, you’d have more friends,” she countered.

This was another thing he liked about Delores. She could actually match wits with him, snarking on his level.   
  


“What are we actually supposed to be doing again?” Five asked.

”Homework,” Delores responded, “I’m assuming yours is already done?”

”Of course. Yours?”

”Obviously. So how about we have some fun?”

Five smirked, “What did you have in mind?”

Delores nodded at the teacher, holding up a note.

In simple terms, it basically said ‘fuck you’ in Latin, with a couple of not-so-mature your mom jokes.

”Well, that’s super mature,” Five noted, “How are we going to get it on the desk without getting ourselves in trouble?”

”Oh, that’s simple,” Delores said with a smirk, “By the way, don’t try this yourself. It won’t work for you.”

”Why wouldn’t it work for me?” Five asked, offended.

”You’ll see.”

Delores approached a tall, rough looking boy, who immediately started looking at her in a way that made Five want to punch him.

”I dare you to go put this on the teacher’s desk next time he turns his back.”

The guy raised an eyebrow, “Why would I do that?”

Delores shrugged, “Fine, then, I’ll do it myself. Guess I’ll have to tell all your friends that you weren’t man enough to prank a teacher when a nerdy little girl could.”

”I never said I wouldn’t do it!” The boy exclaimed, grabbing the paper from her.

No surprise, the guy got caught clumsily trying to sneak the note into the teacher’s desk. Five felt a little bad for the guy, even knowing he probably deserved the extra day of detention he got.

The teacher’s confused expression and soundless mouthing of, “what the fuck,” as he typed what was written on the note into Google translate made it worth it. Delores must have known that this particular teacher had a very expressive face, and his current facial expression was _hilarious_.

“Impressive,” Five admitted when she came back over to their table, ignoring the rough-looking guy glaring at her back.

”The quickest way to manipulate a guy is to insult his manhood,” Delores explained, “No offense, but girls’ buttons aren’t so easy to push.”

”Uh...” Five didn’t want to admit that he had no idea what the idiom meant, but Delores seemed to understand and surprisingly, not hold it against him.

”Girls aren’t as easy to make emotional and manipulate,” she clarified.

”Oh,” Five said. He thought of Diego and Luther vs. Allison or even Vanya, “You’re probably right.”

“I know I’m right,” Delores said, “Well, about most boys and girls, anyway.”

”Most?”

”You seem different. I usually know how to manipulate someone right away, but I’m not so sure about you.”

Five shrugged, “I’ll take that as a compliment. For what it’s worth, it’s the same for me. Everyone here seems pretty simple. You’re the first person I’ve met that was actually hard to figure out.”

”Implying that you did figure me out?” She challenged, a sparkle in her eyes.

Five shrugged, “Let’s see. You’re a smart girl, but you’re no good around people. Never felt understood by them. They didn’t like you so you decided not to like them first. Still, you know how it feels to have people hate you, so you keep everything locked down. You’re passive-aggressive, sure, but you respect everyone as people.”

”Impressive,” Delores said with a smirk.

Someone who hadn’t been trained their whole life by Reginald Hargreeves might not have noticed, but something in Delores’s eyes caught Five. He could tell she was holding something back.

Maybe he was wrong. He hadn’t figured her out all the way yet. Part of Five’s new friend was still a mystery, and that was intriguing to him. She was an enigma, hiding behind an already barely decipherable riddle.

Five had always loved to figure out puzzles and riddles. 

Figuring out Delores Nathan was going to be fun.

...

Vanya had been surprised when her dad had actually said she could join orchestra club, but he had, citing her uselessness on a battlefield; it wasn’t like she was needed at home like any of the others were.

Veronica wasn’t in orchestra, so Vanya didn’t know anybody at first. But one of the dark-haired girl’s friends, an Asian kid named Marty, played string bass, and apparently, Veronica had asked him to look out for her.

Vanya didn’t particularly appreciate being treated like some little kid who needed protecting, but she had to admit, having a friend felt nice. Marty was like Veronica. He was quirky, but nice. And he didn’t care that Vanya was the sibling of the Umbrella Academy kids, beyond a mildly-teasing comment about how her fashion sense wasn’t as good as Allison’s.

Still, the fact that Marty sat on the opposite side of the room made talking to her new friend hard, as he didn’t play even the same instrument as her.

The boy sitting next to her kept sneaking over glances. Vanya wasn’t sure what that was about, but he was staring at her the way other people stared at her siblings; impressed, with unmasked awe. Vanya wasn’t sure if she liked it or not, but it felt good to be the center of attention for once.

She winced as that guy sitting next to her played an off-key note, yet again.

”Damn,” the boy mumbled under his breath.

”You’re holding the bow wrong,” Vanya whispered, “Like this—see?”

”Thanks,” the boy whispered back. 

He adjusted his grip and played the note, still slightly flat, but better.

“Better,” she told him.

”Vanya,” the guy said, “Right?”

Vanya stiffened suddenly. How had he..?

”It’s written on your folder,” he said by way of explanation.

“Oh,” Vanya said, “Right. Yeah.”

”You’re way better at violin than me,”

”No, I’m—“

”Yes, you are. Don’t sell yourself short. I can barely stumble through one measure. You’re playing the whole song like it’s nothing.”

Vanya shrugged, “It just takes a bit of practice.”

”Do you think you could help me out? Some time after practice. I want to get better—I really do.”

Vanya couldn’t stop herself from smiling at his eagerness. This guy seemed nice. And even if Veronica and Marty were nice, they knew her because they knew Allison, too. This guy hadn’t mentioned any of Vanya’s siblings at all. He might not even know who she was—or if he did, he didn’t care.

”You know my name is Vanya,” she said quietly, to avoid the teacher hearing them, “If I’m going to help you with your violin skills, I think I should probably know yours.”

”It’s Leonard. Leonard Peabody.”


	3. Do What You Do

“I’m sorry, you want me to do _what_?”

Ben cringed at Allison’s tone. In retrospect... what he was asking _could_ get them both in huge trouble if Dad ever found out.

“What if you made him let us each join one after-school activity?” he suggested, “I mean, Vanya already is in orchestra—it’s not fair that the rest of us don’t get to do something like that, too.”

”And you want to join drama club, out of everything you could do?” Allison asked skeptically, “Hypothetically speaking. If I actually did this.”

”What I want to join is my business. But besides me, Luther won’t say he wants to join football! Five told me he made a friend who’s going to join Academic Decathlon, whatever that is! Come on, Allie! Are you telling me there’s nothing you’d join if you could?”

”First of all, don’t call me Allie,” Allison said, “Only Klaus gets to call me Allie, and... I mean... _maybe_ drama club would be fun for me, too. But you said you wanted to do crew, right? I’d rather be _on_ the stage.”

”So rumor Dad!” Ben encouraged, “I’m sure Klaus and Diego will come up with a way not to waste their activity.”

”I’m sure they will.”

Ben held his breath as she thought it over.

”Alright, _fine_. I’ll do it tonight. But if he finds out and busts me for it, I’m telling him you put me up to it.”

“Yes! You’re the best, Allison!”

Allison accepted the hug with a grin and a laugh.

”I know. Just build me some great sets when we’re in drama club.”

Ben knew she was probably thinking about how they all were going to owe her for this, but he could forgive her for that.

He was going to get to build things.

...

Dora grunted as she hit the ground.

”Oh, sh-shit,” Diego knelt down next to her, “A-Are you okay?”

She just laughed, and a bit of the anxiety that had wormed its way into Diego’s chest disappeared.

”I’m fine. You gotta teach me that move, though.”

She held out a hand, and Diego pulled her to her feet.

”You-you s... sure you are okay?”

Dora’s smile faded a little, into some kind of expression Diego almost wanted to call concern.

“Yeah. I’m fine. You didn’t hit me that hard. I just didn’t have a strong stance to begin with. Me falling was on me.”

”G-good.”

Diego forced himself to take a deep breath and picture what he wanted to say in his mind.

”I’m glad you’re okay.”

”Aw,” Kat abandoned her sparring partner in favor of turning to Diego and Dora.

”The Umbrella Academy freak got a girlfriend 3 days into school. How _sweet_.”

”Don’t you have a puppy to go kick somewhere, Kat?” Dora asked.

Diego laughed.

Kat sneered, “So, your boyfriend needs you defending him?”

”He isn’t my boyfriend,” Dora said simply, “And no, he doesn’t. We all know he could kick your ass if he wanted to.”

”Yeah,” Diego added, “I just do-don’t want to.”

Shit. Why couldn’t his voice work when he wanted it to?

Kat laughed mockingly, “You can’t even talk right. How could you kick my ass?”

”Ass-kicking doesn’t re-require talk... talking.”

Dora offered a high five. Diego accepted, even if he didn’t really know what was such a big accomplishment about that one sentence.

”Now, if you don’t mind, Kat, we have better things to do than listening to your bullshit.”

Glancing over at the teacher, the blonde grudgingly turned back to her sparring partner.

Diego turned back to his.

”Th-thanks. For stand... standing up for me.”

Dora raised her fists, “Enough talk. Show me to do that move.”

Diego grinned, raised his fists, and did.

...

It turned out Vanya had a few classes with Leonard, which she hadn’t noticed before, but she was glad, now.

He was _really_ nice.

He didn’t seem to even know that she had anything to do with the famous Umbrella Academy kids. If he did, he didn’t bring it up. He just talked about violin with her, or asked about her favorite movies or books.

Whenever Vanya didn’t know about something that was apparently commonplace, he patiently explained it, and even bought her a pop-tart from the vending machine in the cafeteria between 3rd and 4th period.

It was... _so_ good to have someone look at her and actually _see_ her.

There was nothing about Vanya’s siblings until she brought it up, offhandedly mentioning that one time when they were younger and she, Diego, Five, Ben, and Klaus had snuck out at night to go to a nearby donut place.

”You snuck out to go to a donut place?” Leonard laughed, “That’s something not a lot of kids can say.”

”Well, usually, at home, we don’t really get sweets,” Vanya explained, “I mean, Klaus wanted to sneak to a dive bar he said would serve kids that night, but the rest of us wouldn’t let him.”

”Your brother sounds wild.”

”He kind of is. One of our other brothers described him as ‘completely feral,’ and to be honest, that’s not an inaccurate description.”

Leonard laughed again, “So, older or younger?”

”What?”

”Your brothers. Um... the only name you mentioned was... Klaus? Is he older or younger than you?”

Vanya tried not to let her smile fade too much, “Oh. Um... same age, actually.”

”Oh, so you’re twins?”

Well, they’d all been born the same day, same time, same mysterious circumstances. And they’d all grown up together, having gotten to the academy at the same time. So... in a way, they _were_ all kind of like twins, right?

”Yeah. Yeah, we’re twins.”

”Cool. I always wondered what it would be like to have a twin. Are you close?”

Vanya shook her head, “No, not really. Klaus is closer with one of our other brothers.”

”How many brothers do you have?” Leonard asked.

”Five brothers,” Vanya admitted, “One sister.”

”Damn. That’s a lot of siblings. Your house must be crowded.”

”Not really, actually. It’s a big house.”

”I guess it’d have to be. I’m an only child. I always wanted siblings growing up, though. All the other kids in school always said I shouldn’t. They said siblings are really mean.”

Vanya shrugged, “Well, they can be. Luther—the oldest—he’s kind of a jerk sometimes. He means well, though.”

She did like to think that Luther meant well. She couldn’t be sure, of course, that any of her siblings weren’t being mean to her on purpose. She liked to think they weren’t, though.

“That’s no excuse,” Leonard said, “Big siblings are supposed to protect the younger ones, right? Being a family, you’re supposed to love and support each other.”

Love and support. Those were two things Vanya could admit she’d never really gotten. Even from Five, it really only came in small shows of support that were outnumbered by cruel remarks in front of their father he never apologized for.

”I guess they are.”

“I know it’s not quite the same thing,” Leonard said, “But my dad was never the most supportive. He wanted a son who was an athlete or something. Definitely not a musician. So I guess I kind of get it.”

Vanya had no illusions that he got it for real, but it was somewhat comforting that he was trying to understand.

...

Allison took a deep breath before knocking on Dad’s office door.

”Who is it?”

”Al—Number 3.”

”Come in.”

Either he didn’t have much work today, or he was in a... well, not a _good_ mood, because he didn’t _have_ good moods, but a _better_ mood. Time to pray it was the latter.

Even if he had allowed her to come in, Dad didn’t look up from whatever he was doing.

”What is it, Number 3?”

Number 3 took a deep breath, “There was something I was wondering. About school.”

”Your mother can help you with any homework questions you have. You shouldn’t be stupid enough to have any, but if you do, you should be intelligent enough to know to use a resource besides me.”

”I don’t have a homework question,” Number 3 clarified, “There’s a club I want to join. Drama club. There’s an informational meeting next week. Both Number 6 and I want to go.”

”You cannot join a club when there’s a world full of danger out there,” Dad said simply, “If a mission comes up when you are wasting time on this club, people could die. But I suppose I couldn’t expect you to think of that, Number 3. You are a selfish creature, after all.”

Number 3 took a deep breath, “You let Number 7 join orchestra.”

”Yes, because Number 7 is unneeded for missions. You, on the other hand, are not. It’s out of the question.”

Number 3 took another deep breath. Now or never.

**“I heard a rumor... that you let each of us join one after school activity... and that you never said we couldn’t in the first place.”**

She held her breath for the few seconds it took for the rumor to set in.

”What is it, Number 3?”

”I was wondering if you’d let me and Number 6 join drama club. There’s an informational meeting next week.”

Number 3 couldn’t breathe as he contemplated it.

”You don’t remember, Number 3? Each of you is allowed to join one after school activity. If this is the one you choose, you had best not make the Academy look like fools in your performances.”

”Yeah,” Number 3 said quickly, “Of course not. I won’t, Dad. Don’t worry.”

”Is that all?”

”Yes.”

He didn’t speak again after that, and she could sense that he was done listening to her. She closed the door on her way out.

_God_, she was so relieved that worked.

Ben was waiting for her by the door to her room.

”So?”

Allison grinned, “Dust off your vocal chords, little brother, cause we are joining theatre club!”

Even if she wasn’t already excited enough for herself, Ben’s ecstatic smile before he hugged her made the risk worth it.


End file.
